The spread of sharia law has been aided and abetted by the British state as a way to appease what they regard as “non-violent” extremists.

Sharia courts are being wooed by local councils and the police, who see them as a valuable bridge to the Muslim communities.

But they have been accused of pressuring the Crown Prosecution Service to drop domestic violence cases, claiming that they have been successfully “mediated.”

It is a scandal, too, that some of these sharia courts have been given charitable status. Where is the public interest in allowing an abusive process and promoting a separate legal system? These so-called courts are businesses demanding fees of up to £800 for a divorce.

Shame on Sharia: Women beaten, robbed and raped. A chilling expose of how BRITISH females are being sentenced to lives of misery by Muslim courts

Sharia courts across Britain are denying Muslim women their legal rights
Being encouraged by the British state in the name of increased security
Commons Home Affairs Committee begun investigation into Islamic law
The courts are used by Muslim families to adjudicate on personal matters

By GITA SAHGAL, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST FROM THE ONE LAW FOR ALL CAMPAIGN AND CENTRE FOR SECULAR SPACE

By Gita Sahgal, Human Rights Activist from the One Law for All Campaign and Centre for Secular Space, 13 November 2016

As a young British-Pakistani woman, Lubna faced an agonising decision. She was brought up a devout Muslim in a prosperous middle-class family in the north of England, but her arranged marriage to the father of her two children was a disaster.

He was both sexually abusive and physically violent; he and members of his family regularly beat up Lubna.

When he suddenly disappeared to pursue a new life in America with a new woman, she was left to work night and day to support his elderly parents until they threw her out of their house.

Shame on Sharia: Beaten women, raped women and robbed women – being sentenced to lives of misery by Muslim courts

Lubna moved to London to rebuild her life. She studied for a university degree, and with the support of her family, began civil proceedings to divorce her husband.

Unlike her terrifying marriage, the process was largely pain-free. Thanks to a restraining order, her furious husband – who returned to contest the divorce – was banned from approaching her.

The court granted her custody of their children and successfully hid her address from him for fear of reprisals. But after she was persuaded to obtain an Islamic divorce in the sharia court, her true nightmare began.

First, the clerics tried to persuade her to attempt a reconciliation with her abusive husband. Then, after they disclosed her address, he threatened to kill her, kidnapped her children, and subjected her to an horrific rape that left her needing an abortion.

Lubna had not even thought she needed a sharia divorce, but shortly before her decree nisi was made absolute, her estranged husband stood up before a prayer meeting at her local mosque in East London and denounced her as ‘a loose woman’ who was being pimped by her widowed mother Shagufta.

He said he was ‘still willing to take her back for the sake of our children’.

Although at least one imam knew the horrific background to her marriage, a delegation from the mosque visited her family to persuade her to return. When that failed, the imam, an old family friend, put more pressure on Lubna to go to the sharia court.

To satisfy her devout Muslim mother, who was being intimidated by the wider Muslim community, she eventually went to the sharia court near London’s Regent’s Park. What happened there shocked her to her core.

Faced by a ‘bench’ of clerics who described themselves as ‘judges’, she expected to be able to describe her plight at the hands of her violent husband.

Gita Sahgal: Britain has embarked on an unsavoury Faustian pact in which the rights and safety of Muslim women in this country have been sacrificed in the name of security

She told me: ‘The court was incredibly difficult. My mother and I were repeatedly told to be silent. None of the information from the civil proceedings, including non-molestation orders, was admissible in the sharia court.

‘When my ex-husband said he wanted a reconciliation, the judges said I should comply.

‘I tried to tell them about the violence and abuse I had suffered throughout the marriage, but was advised to be quiet. My mother was also silenced.’

She faced intrusive questioning about the last time she had sex with her husband – crucial, the judges told her, to determine exactly when their relationship had ended. She was also forced to disclose her address.

This is the reality of sharia courts currently spreading across Britain and denying Muslim women their legal rights – a proliferation that is being encouraged by the British state in the name of increased security. The Commons Home Affairs Committee has begun an investigation into the spread of Islamic law.

Dr Ahmad Al-Dubayan, chairman of the new UK Board of Sharia Councils, told the committee that British Muslims have the right to use sharia courts. They have no legal force but are regularly used by Muslim families to adjudicate on personal matters, including religious marriages and divorces.

They apply a far more extreme version of Islamic law than Pakistan

Dr Al-Dubayan’s colleague said that Islamic law allows polygamy, but the sharia judges and ‘regulators’ denied that they were promoting the practice.

To me this sounded like double-speak from the very organisation that aimed to standardise procedures and prevent abuses which could be perpetrated by the scores of self-appointed ‘courts’ operating around the country with no regulation.

In other words, they were the good guys who should be trusted to tame the extremists who might flourish if sharia law was driven underground.

The truth, however, is far more sinister. As an activist and documentary film-maker who has spent more than two decades investigating religious fundamentalism in Britain, I can reveal that sharia courts seek to undermine British law, subject women to humiliation, subjugation and the risk of physical harm, and apply a version of Islamic law that is far more extreme than that used in Muslim countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The most prominent sharia councils are also the fundamentalist ones.

At the heart of their existence is a deliberate lie. The overwhelming majority of cases heard by sharia courts are divorce suits brought by women who are told that a British civil divorce does not count in the eyes of Islam.

Any woman who embarks on a new relationship will, they say, have committed adultery – a crime only equalled in their eyes by apostasy [abandoning Islam] and blasphemy.

Yet the courts in, for example, Bangladesh and Pakistan, are perfectly happy to accept a civil divorce certificate from Britain as evidence of the end of a marriage, which in the Muslim tradition is a civil contract rather than a sacrament. In those countries, the contract must be registered to count as a legal marriage.

But, here in Britain, there are many unregistered marriages.

Hardline: Muslim women campaigning for Sharia law during a protest outside Downing Street

Nobody knows how many unregulated sharia courts there are in Britain. One unofficial estimate put the total at around 85, which means there is a sharia court in pretty much every area with a sizeable Muslim community.

A Home Office study suggests there are about 30, but there are many individuals dispensing sharia law too, in mosques, Islamic centres and even below shops. Even the Home Office study did not name the sharia councils that it had identified.

Yet a generation ago, they were unknown. Now, because of pressure from radical mosques and elsewhere, the basic principle of equality in marriage is dispensed with in favour of an extreme interpretation of Islamic law.

The ending of a marriage in a civil court is simply not enough for a woman to feel she will not be labelled an adulterer if she marries again. That is why some women ‘choose’ sharia divorce, even if they are already divorced.

Lubna was one such woman. After filling in apparently routine paperwork, she went to the sharia court with her mother to press her case for an Islamic divorce.

‘I left the sharia court in tears,’ she added. ‘My mother told me not to worry. But after the case was heard my ex-husband began a sustained campaign of harassment and stalking after learning my address from the sharia court document.

‘He kidnapped my children and threatened to keep them if I did not allow him to come and live with me in my new home.’

Horrified by what she had seen at the sharia court, Lubna’s mother sought advice from Islamic scholars in Pakistan and India, who told her a civil divorce was sufficient for a formal termination of the marriage and that Lubna was right to rely on the protection of the British law, which had granted her custody of the children.

As a result, Lubna never completed the sharia divorce and went on to rebuild her life.

If imams here spread that message, the sharia business would collapse. By common agreement, Islamic divorces account for the vast majority of cases heard in the sharia courts, which are dominated in this country by fundamentalists who seek to perpetuate the male domination of marriage.

They believe that men can end a marriage simply by repeating the words ‘I divorce you’ three times, while women must come before them and subject themselves to the intrusive questioning of an Islamic scholar who might typically ask them what more they could do to please their violent and abusive husbands.

Sharia courts can also interfere with the laws of property and inheritance. Hameeda, 70, was forced to abide by rules imposed by a sharia court consulted by her strict Muslim sons after her husband died.

The court told her she had to remain in iddat (seclusion) for 40 days. ‘I do not understand this rule,’ she said. ‘Iddat is for women who might be pregnant. I am an old woman.

Did these judges think there was any possibility that I could be pregnant? Are they stupid? I was not allowed to answer the phone, the front door or even to go into the garden during this time because a man may see me! I felt like I was in prison.

‘Four months after my husband died, I came under a lot of pressure from my sons to sell my house and give the money to them. They have been speaking to this sharia judge again. He told them that in English law I may own the house I live in but this is not the right way in Islam.

‘He said that my husband’s property should have been given to my sons. I cry every day because I do not know what is going to happen to me. Where will I go? I worked as a machinist for many years – day and night – to build a home for my family. I do not want to give up the home I have worked so hard to make.

‘I am now being forced to listen to lecture after lecture from my sons about my religion and what it says about what happens to the family’s wealth after the husband dies.’

Sharia courts are now orchestrating a cynical public relations campaign in which they are rebranding themselves not as courts, but as mediation and arbitration services. But in truth the first was established around 1986 by Islamic fundamentalists in an attempt to promulgate their rigid version of faith.

The presiding imams often call themselves ‘judges’ and in the oldest sharia council, they sit at a raised bench, looking down at the women who are petitioning for divorce. Yet the ‘justice’ they dispense has none of the safeguards and legal rights that petitioners in properly convened courts of law enjoy.

The most sickening thing is that the spread of sharia law has been aided and abetted by the British state, which sees acceptance of these shadowy courts as a way to appease what they regard as ‘non-violent’ extremists.

In doing so, Britain has embarked on an unsavoury Faustian pact in which the rights and safety of Muslim women in this country have been sacrificed in the name of security.

A disturbing example came earlier this year when the Home Office, then under Theresa May, announced an ‘independent’ review into sharia law as part of the Government’s counter-extremism strategy.

Alarmingly, the Home Office appointed two imams as advisers to the panel, which is chaired by Professor Mona Siddiqui, herself a theologian. Surely they should be discussing the rights of women who may have been harmed by sharia courts rather than the finer points of Islam?

Sharia courts are being wooed by local councils and the police, who see them as a valuable bridge to the Muslim communities.

But they have been accused of pressuring the Crown Prosecution Service to drop domestic violence cases, claiming that they have been successfully ‘mediated’.

It is a scandal, too, that some of these sharia courts have been given charitable status. Where is the public interest in allowing an abusive process and promoting a separate legal system? These so-called courts are businesses demanding fees of up to £800 for a divorce.

Lubna’s mother said: ‘I do not have words to convey my anger at what was being done in this supposed court. I do not recognise this Islam or how it is being portrayed. My time is coming to an end, but I am so sad for the generations to come if we continue on this path.’

Pamela Geller is the President of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), publisher of PamelaGeller.com and author of The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America and Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance.

Post navigation

There is nothing that can be done about britain, as those who will not help themselves, cannot be helped. shari’a is accepted and encouraged, it will only gain more power as the population shrugs its shoulders, votes for more islamic politicians, accepting the imposition of islam on the former independent country. When the queen is replaced by a caliph, the transformation will be complete.

Mark Steiner

Or the queen replaced by an imam of high degree, analogous to Khamenei assuming the title of “ayatollah” in Iran. For now, I cannot imagine a world-wide caliphate in Britain … but the way that place is going, who knows?

Mahou Shoujo

Take a long hard look at what britain says and does. It is rapidly becoming palestine north.

Nefarious420

People need to be far more tolerant and understanding, this is their culture. It is time for Not So Great Britain to create 2 state solutions so the Arabs can have their right of return to Englandistan, Buckingham Mosque, and BIg Ben Clock and Dome. 2 States for 2 People!!!! Let’s make it happen!

Trevor Fortune

Oh goatboy, won’t you just stick to the one screen name so people can keep your garbage blocked permanently? Seriously, leave your mother’s udder now and grow up.

Nefarious420

Awesome taqiyya, I have but one screen name, and many posts to go along with it. The world cries for Israel to trade land for less terror, it is time for the UK to free Buckingham Palace back to the Muslims so they can have a right of return… Get over it and submit to Islam! Britain is lost, a 2 State solution is their only solution for survival now.

Why do you not support a 2 state solution in France? It is a good enough world solution for Israel. Isn’t it time Europe leads the way since they fund the terrorist arabs in Judea and Samaria? If it is such a great thing for Israel to trade land for maybe less terror, maybe Europe should show how well it can work when they do it.

SRN99

Every country in history under Islam is a failure. Your Allah hates Muslims.

Nefarious420

My Allah? you are to funny. I was pointing out that if a 2 state solution with these terrorists is good enough for Israel, it should be good enough for the EU since that is what they preach for Israel to do. Trade land for less terror.

SRN99

Muslims should go back to Mecca where their filthy prophet was born in.

Chippy

Dont you like muslims?

billdeserthills

I like muslims when they are caught in a wood chipper and cannot escape

Chippy

ISIS does this not good Muslims

billdeserthills

Really, I can’t recall the last time good muslims ratted out terrorists, can you??

Bless his heart

Mecca should be turned into a church.

Bless his heart

You are a joke or trying to show the absurdity of your arguments. Islam only respects the sword that cuts its head off. That is history. You know it. Instead you write absurdities.

Nefarious420

I make the same argument thrust upon Israel, why is it not absurd then? Yes Islam should be removed from this world, except this world loves its terrorists and explains it away as a jobs issue, not religious death and rape cult it truly is.

Is that what iranians want when they chant death to ISRAEL?
There will never be two states in ISRAEL because the muzlums will not stand for it.
ISRAEL pulled back from Goland and the West Bank.
How has that worked out for them? It is not enough for the muzlums.

Nefarious420

You are right, Israel needs to end the 2 state solution that has been thrust upon them by the world, and reclaim land given away for peace and cooperation that has never occurred.

Because muzlums. will not be happy with a two state solution. They will want more and more.
Give them an inch they will take a mile. There will never be any peace. Just more death and destruction.
They cannot live in peace with anyone, anywhere for any length of time…. PERIOD……..
The1400 years of izlamic history has shown this.

Nefarious420

YES! if the world would open their eyes, we could eliminate the threat of the death/rape culd Islam from the world. Preaching 2 state solutions with muslim terrorists in any state is a bad idea, and it is giving in to terror.

IzlamIsTyranny

Your subtle sarcasm doesn’t seem to work out too well here does it?

Nefarious420

I thought the absurdity of it all would make the sarcasm more than clear, sounds crazy when people talk about dealing with terrorists, unless we are discussing Israel, then this is the very conversation the world pushes on Israel.

Nefarious420

Yes! It sounds crazy, absurd, certifiably insane to give in to the terrorists, yet that is what the UN, EU and USA demand of Israel.

michaelwarden

idiot.

Nefarious420

If you do not give the Arabs their Sharia and Caliphate in 1/2 of France, they may take the whole thing. Deal while you can, before your subjugated to Islam.

Trevor Fortune

No goatboy, I know you far too well. Your syntax gives you away along with your rhetoric every time. Isn’t it about time you trotted out Toro again, haven’t seen you using that for quite a while? I’ve organised something for you. Try to act surprised when the knock comes.

Nefarious420

So awesome, tell me about myself, lol

Trevor Fortune

I’ll make it a short summary. Next time, before you push the flush lever take a moment to look in the bowl. There you will find not only the best part of you but a complete picture of your worth to the world.

Tatonka

Churchill is rolling in agony in his grave, What the Hitler could not accomplish is finished by the British themselves.No use reporting on the Muslim situation there any longer.
The UK is done for.

Randall Flagg

vigilantism on a grand scale is the only option- and this includes politicians get heaped into the dumpster alongside the sub-human muslims

bargogx1

And of course feminists are silent about this because it doesn’t fit their narrative.

SRN99

Leave Islam, all you Muslims. Your so-called prophet Mohammad was a rapist, murderer and thief. Your so-called god Allah is not the name of God.

Sunshine Kid

“Allah” is the moon god. And the moon, like Satan, has no light of its own.

Bless his heart

Islam is Islam.

Sharia Law is the means of conquering an invaded country. It appears to be used that way in the UK.

London is demanding freedom to enslave itself in Sharia Law under the guidance of its Moslem mayor, who used the Fabian Society socialism as a means to political power. Under Sharia Law all political power is to be subservient to Sharia Law.

The leftist scum have brought blood and invaders to the UK. There will be much blood. Terrorism and blood is the Sharia Law way. It is a hijrah Muslim conquest underway.

joe1429

Stunning, that britian would encourage sharia courts in its own country! They got stockholm syndrome

marlene

So where is she and her children now, after the judges told her to reconcile?

billdeserthills

Mebbe she killed herself off in an effort to bring honor back to her husband’s family?

IzlamIsTyranny

They’re all f’ing muslums! They choose to belong to this death cult and bitch, moan, whine and whinge when they don’t get their way, then bitch, moan, whine and whinge when they DO get their way! F’em all!

Ichabod Crain

I read this halfway to where she git a civil divorce and seemed to be on her way when the idiot decided to go get abused by the Sharia court. Soon after I quit reading in disgust. What an idiot. I have no sympathy whatsoever for her. You would think she would have abandoned Islam long before this point when she realized what a raw deal it gives women.

imwithstoopid

She brought this upon herself. Did she not know just where she stood in that travesty of law and justice.
A “friendly” Imam who knew of her plight told her to go to court, a friend, really. Her devout mother, a woman who knew her place in that despicable pile of inhuman society of human misfits tells her to go, and she does.
She knew she would give out her address.
This story seems like I heard the exact same a couple of months ago. Husband, address, kids, fake court, same outcome.

Mr Paul Middleton

We Brits who KNOW Islam, have a lot of work to do. The Libtard-Lefties did this, and their days are numbered now, post-Brexit. The West is in the process of abandoning the prevailing Libtard agenda wholesale, that has dominated for a decade or more. There lies Britain’s hope.

Books & Movies By Pamela Geller

Today Islamic supremacists are demanding more accommodation of Islamic principles
and practices than ever, and daily growing more aggressive in eroding our freedoms – with politically
correct public officials only too happy..